4of51% Win probability, according to advancefootballanalytics.com, for Houston with 13:49 to play at the start of a drive capped by Kenneth Farrow's 8-yard touchdown run to make it 31-13.Photo: Ron Jenkins, MBR

5of5Linebacker Efrem Oliphant (50) is in the middle of UH's celebration following the trophy presentation after a 35-34 win over Pitt in the Armed Forces Bowl.Photo: Ron Jenkins, MBR

FORT WORTH - On the sideline, after watching the University of Houston put together one of the most stunning comebacks in bowl history Friday, David Gibbs held up two fingers.

There was nothing to contemplate. With 59 seconds remaining, the Cougars were going for the two-point conversion and the victory.

If they failed, Gibbs said, "it was going to be on me."

"There was no pressure," said Gibbs, UH's defensive coordinator and interim head coach. "There was no decision to be made, because we made it a long time ago."

Greg Ward Jr. rolled to his right and threw a high pass to 6-3 receiver Deontay Greenberry, who outjumped two defenders in the back right corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion, completing a 25-point, fourth-quarter rally for an improbable 35-34 victory over Pittsburgh in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.

The rally from a 31-6 deficit early in the fourth quarter tied for the third-largest in a bowl. The 25-point comeback was the largest for a bowl decided in regulation.

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Bowled over

Largest comebacks in bowl history:

Pts. Year Bowl What happened

31 2006 Insight Texas Tech trailed Minnesota 38-7 in third quarter and won 44-41 in OT.

30 2001 GMAC Marshall trailed East Carolina 38-8 at halftime and won 64-61 in 2 OTs.

25 2000 Outback Georgia trailed Purdue 25-0 in second quarter and won 28-25 in OT.

24 2000 Micronpc.com North Carolina trailed Minnesota 24-0 in second quarter and won 38-30.

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The Cougars' comeback was as stunning as it was swift: 22 points - including two touchdowns by Greenberry - two onside kick recoveries and a two-point conversion, all in the final 3:41.

In the fourth quarter alone, UH (8-5) set Armed Forces Bowl records for most points in a quarter (29) and total yards (292). Ward had a bowl-record 237 of his 274 passing yards in the final quarter.

"It was a miracle," Gibbs said. "We will gladly accept a miracle."

Pitt (6-7) took a 31-6 lead on a 5-yard touchdown run by All-America running back James Conner, his second of the game and 26th of the season, with 13:58 remaining.

Kenneth Farrow added his second rushing touchdown for UH. The Cougars trailed 34-13 with 6:14 left after a 29-yard field goal by Pitt's Chris Blewitt.

With many in the rain-soaked crowd at TCU's Amon G. Carter heading for the exits, the Cougars began the rally.

Greenberry hauled in an 8-yard touchdown pass to pull the Cougars within 34-20, and Tyler White recovered the first onside kick - which went through the legs of Pitt's Nicholas Grigsby - at the UH 48.

After a pair of receptions by Markeith Ambles, the Cougars were faced with a fourth-and-13. Ward hooked up with Demarcus Ayers, who managed to keep his feet inbounds for a 29-yard touchdown to trim the gap to 34-27.

The second onside kick did not cover 10 yards, instead bouncing off Grigsby and allowing Farrow to pounce on the ball at the UH 43.

"I was there to grab it," said Farrow, who rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns to earn UH MVP honors.

He also reached 1,000 rushing yards for the first time.

On the next play, Greenberry hauled in a 38-yard catch across the middle. Three plays later, Ward noticed strong safety Reggie Mitchell stay with Ambles on the outside and found Greenberry open across the middle for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 59 seconds left.

"I'm standing on the field at times saying, 'Is this really happening right now?' You're kind of in a sense of disbelief," Pitt free safety Ray Vinopal said.

From that point, Gibbs said the decision to go for the two-point conversion had been made during the first bowl practice following the firing of coach Tony Levine in mid-December.

"We made a decision that day in practice that if it came down to the end of the game we were going for two no matter what," Gibbs said. "We've probably run that play 25 or 30 times in practice."

Pitt wasn't done. The Panthers, with the help of a pass interference call, moved the ball to midfield in the closing seconds. Four straight incomplete passes by Chad Voytik sealed the game, allowing the Cougars to kneel for the final play.

"We've been through a lot of games where we were coming from behind, and we got close to coming back and winning the game but we just couldn't finish," Greenberry said. "It's all about never quitting."

After the game, UH players hugged assistant coaches, many of them will not join the staff of new coach Tom Herman, the offensive coordinator at Ohio State which plays Oregon in the national title game Jan. 12.

Gibbs plans to meet with Herman in the next few days to discuss whether to remain with the Cougars.

But Friday was reserved for celebrating one of the most dramatic wins in school history.

Joseph Duarte has been a sports reporter for the Houston Chronicle since August 1996. He currently covers college athletics, focusing on the University of Houston. Previously, he wrote about the Houston Astros from 1998-2002, Houston Texans from 2002-05 and the Texas Longhorns from 2005-09. He came to the Houston Chronicle as part of an internship through the Sports Journalism Institute in 1995.